Somewhere, a Garden

[krangke]

Who: Newt & Anyone else whose interested
What: Newt is constructing a garden for the citizens of Hadriel. Hopefully with some help from the citizens of Hadriel.
Where: Somewhere by the lake.
When: March 4-6th ish?
Warnings: Possible mentions of gore, swearing. Pretty tame.

(Newt is understandably pissed. But also incredibly motivated.

To learn that someone had already asked for seeds but then had done absolutely nothing with them grated on him in a way that drove against every part of him that yearned for a structured society. What they had right now was nothing. The people here might be tame and without the craze of an uncontrolled mob but that didn't change the fact that they were weaker apart than they were together. They needed to start functioning as a society. Newt was still fairly convinced that throwing something like this into the lot would help with that. Maybe people would feel communally obligated to some extent. There were good people here, people with talents and skills and the will to help out. Newt was putting his faith in that.

He was also really tired of laying around staring at the wall and hating everything about everything. That was the funny thing about resilient pessimists. They were really bad at staying down for long. Even after everything.

Gathering the supplies wasn't hard. Finding the plot of land (a nice patch of flat ground 25' by 30') was also pretty easy. Not a whole lot in this place, after all.

It was everything else that was difficult. Newt worked relentlessly. Most days he started in a sweater and wound up in a tank top or no shirt at all. His body was filthy an hour into work and his hands destroyed pretty quick on the first day. His own fault for not being able to find good, sturdy gloves. He blamed that on his impatience. He made due with strips of fabric to try and salvage some skin on his hands. The very first thing he did was work with the land.

Some of the garden was going to be raised beds, he had decided, while others would be traditional in ground sections. He didn't row things off. They had to feed a lot of people and rows were only beneficial in plots of lands that went over acres of land. They needed to conserve as much space as possible and get as many plants out of it as possible. He had a sketch pad filled with drawings for the layout of the garden- including fences that would provide shade for some plants and fences that would be perfect for vine plants. He even had some workings of some sort of rough irrigation system drawn out on one of the pieces of paper. Any of which anyone could walk by and see scattered by his work station.

His work station which was actually kind of just a pile of tools. He hadn't found the wood or material for the fence yet but right just then, he was focused pretty intently on digging up the ground and working it in his favor.

This process was tedious. He stopped for water often and to lean off his bad leg every now and then before driving back in. His arms were made for this though so it wasn't as painful as it could be. Sometimes he'd stop and sit off to the side of the garden and work in his sketch book, a focused look on his face as he worked a pencil in hurried strokes over the paper trying to solve some sort of problem or another.)

OOC: This is a suuuuuper open post. Feel free to have your character help him turn up the land, give him seeds, help him find materials for fencing, come in with materials for fencing, come with tips on irrigation. Literally anything at all! Or if your character just wants to bother him that's fine too. He'll appreciate the company either way.

Comments

[werewolfing]

[it's hours into the first day by the time peter finds newt, and he's become increasingly agitated in that time. newt had promised not to just wander off again, and then what had he done? gone and disappeared, leaving peter with no idea where he'd headed.

peter finds the garden by accident, following noise into open space and seeing newt there, turning the earth with a shovel. dig, turn, step, dig, turn, step, his brow furrowed and body filthy. peter goes over to him, denying all the while that he's hurrying.]

Newt! For fuck's sake. You said you wouldn't leave.

[krangke]

(Newt hadn't really meant to go off and scare Peter. Really, he had been feeling better and better as the weeks wore on. There were still awful nightmares but they had thinned out a bit. He could focus a little better all throughout the day instead of just random patches. He wasn't feeling so dark and before he could slip back into all that, he was just trying to force himself to do something worthwhile.

Like make a garden.

His hands are cracked and bloodied around the shovel's handles by the time Peter finds him. The boy's voice startles him and he drops the shovel, instantly bending over to scoop it back up.)

Peter.

(Guilt flares up in his gut because although he hadn't thought about it, he knows why Peter's looking at him like that.

He pinches his mouth a bit and looks away. He's filthy with sweat and dirt, shirt clinging to him, and his hands hurt like a bitch but he's feeling better than he has in weeks.)

Listen, it's fine. I've been doing better for a while now. I just. Had to get out of the house and get this started. I was doing nothing.

[werewolfing]

Yeah, I get that. But you could've, I don't know, mentioned it?

I didn't know where you were.

[which is not a small deal to peter, all things considered. he runs a hand through his hair. he knows that newt needs to get out, to do things, to start being again instead of just existing, but this wandering off business...peter doesn't like how worried he was. he doesn't like it at all.]

Tell me at least you have something to plant in this.

[krangke]

I'm sorry.

(Newt murmurs this quietly, staring down at the ground rather than at Peter. It wasn't fair of him. Peter had been good about telling him about where he was going and it had been stupid and a little bit selfish of Newt not to return the favor. But he hadn't done it out of malice. He really hadn't been thinking of it like that at all.

He wasn't used to someone checking up on him like that or someone caring that much about where he was. His grip tightened almost painfully around the shovel before loosening up. He draws his shoulders back and looks up at Peter.)

I am sorry, Peter. I wasn't really thinking about it like that when I left.

(He wets his lips a bit and then glances over his shoulder at the work he'd done.)

Well it's a bit of an odd situation, really. I spoke to Hope and apparently some idiot had asked for seeds before but clearly never did anything with them. But he did say if I couldn't find them that he would probably give me some.

[werewolfing]

I know you weren't, because you're a ridiculous creature.

[he sounds too fondly exasperated to be truly angry.]

I guess you'll have to make an open call for idiots with unused seeds, then. God, look at your hands. At least let me rewrap them. Should've asked Hope for a good pair of gloves.

[amos_moses]

[The jabberjays get interested in what Newt's doing; they're curious creatures and after a few attempts to get him riled up, they let him be. But Amos 'hears' the commotion and comes to see what his feathered friends are up to. He finds Newt working, and watches for several bemused moments before he clears his throat to get the other's attention.]

Hi. What're you up to?

[krangke]

(Newt honestly doesn't mind the jabberjays. They could be a little awful sometimes but otherwise were pretty harmless. He's learned well enough to ignore them by now. Besides, they didn't have the screams of people he cared about yet.

He's a solid plunge into the earth when someone clears his throat and Newt stops. He glances up and over, his own brows raised. He gives a glance around the garden before shrugging.)

Making a garden for the city. We should really be growing our own food, don't you think?

[amos_moses]

I didn't know we had anythn' to grow.

[Amos admits this freely as he looks around, examines what Newt's doing, the tools he's got. He's not a farmer; raised in the city, the most he knows about plants pertains to wilderness survival, not making green things flourish.]

I'd offer to help, but I'm not sure I'd be any help.

[krangke]

Kinda do. Kinda don't. Apparently someone here has seeds. Hope said if I couldn't find them he'd probably give me some.

(Which Newt took to mean that he would give Newt some. He looks at the guy, tilting his head to the side a little bit.)

Well that's all right. Not everyone's good at gardening.

(Funny thing is Newt genuinely doesn't seem bothered that the guy might not be of any help at all. Instead, he shrugs.)

Always like company though.

[thechoiceisyours]

[Chris is out and about for a few reasons, mostly involving the fact that despite the dwindling numbers in his house there's still several people there, and therefore they need a lot of supplies. Especially after the whole wendigo ordeal.

But he's distracted from his search by the sight of Newt's project, whatever it is. Chris is not exactly the gardening type so he's not completely sure what's being built, even if he might be able to hazard a guess.]

Hey.

[The greeting is accompanied by a small smile as he approaches.]

What are you working on?

[krangke]

(Newt's shoving his foot onto the shovel to get it in a little bit deeper when Chris approaches. He heaves up his shovelful of dirt and tumbles it over behind him.

His eyes cut to Chris and there's instant recognition on his face followed up by a small smile of his own. Entirely genuine, if not a little tired. Manual labor will do that to a kid.)

Chris! Good to see you, mate.

(He means that too. What with the whole wendigo debacle. Not like he really knew who was or wasn't okay after all that.)

Oh, this? I'm workin' on a garden. Used to help grow crops back where I come from and figured that what with uh...Recent events- it might not be a half bad idea to start growing our own food.

(He shoves his shovel back into the ground but doesn't keep digging. Instead, he casually leans an elbow against it.)

How've you been?

[thechoiceisyours]

[Oh, a garden is definitely a good idea, after the whole fiasco with Rage and Fear's attempts to 'help'. He knows Sam had talked about wanting to make one--she'd been vegan before this whole mess anyway--but for several reasons never got around to it.]

Yeah, definitely. I'm like, super terrible at growing plants, but if you think you can do it I'm pretty sure my friend got some seeds from Hope a few weeks ago.

[He shrugs at the second question, giving as casual an answer as possible even if the relaxed tone might be a bit forced.]

Didn't get eaten by any monsters, so could be worse.

[Especially since he'd actually been attacked twice and somehow didn't end up with any serious injuries.]

How uh... How about you?

[krangke]

(Newt snorts a little bit initially. Yeah, he knew plenty people who were awful at plants. But then he lifts his head in interest, canting it to the side.)

Your friend has seeds? Those certainly would be useful.

(He wonders if it was the one and same person who Hope had mentioned previously. If it had only been a few weeks ago then that wasn't so bad.)

Yeah. Not being eaten is usually pretty high on most people's list.

(Newt hadn't been attacked but he'd seen some pretty heavy stuff he was currently just trying to forget about. On top of returning from home. So when Chris asks, he mostly just gives a shrug and doesn't even bother with trying to fake a smile.)

...Alive, mostly.

(He leans off of the shovel and dusts his hands uselessly off against each other.)

Trying to stay distracted. And now? Busy. I think it might be a little good for everyone if they had something to do. Boredom can be pretty awful.

[unfollowing]

[Emily is here to bother him.

The atmosphere in the house is ... tense. Everyone's clear on the fact that she and Josh are not to blame for what happened towards the end of last month, but the memories are still too fresh. Or, in her case, the lack of memories. It's unsettling, and some part of her is a little bit afraid whenever she starts to feel hungry, and she's still mad that her stupid threat had come true. She needs to stop doing shit like that. This is the second time she's put someone in a life and death situation because of something she'd thought was a good idea at the time.

The only thing she's been able to do to deal with this is get out of the house. The shops still suck, and she misses eating meat, but it's better than feeling like she'll set off an explosion anywhere but her room. It'd be easier if Sam were still here. Sam radiates serenity, keeps tensions down. But now she's gone, and Chris is always going to choose Ashley over Emily no matter what the situation, and Josh is, well, Josh.

Today, Emily takes a new route (not like there are many in the city, but she makes do) and ends up here, where this kid is gardening or whatever. She's not much for conversation these days, but she's bored, and tired of her thoughts drifting back to her ordeal last month.

So she walks up to the edge of the plot, where the beginnings of a fence rise up.]

Landscaping? Really? [She scoffs.] I mean, I guess it's better than nothing.

[krangke]

(Newt is here to be bothered, thankfully.

The past month of Newt's life was spent in the confides of his house in Hadriel. It might've been seemed a cowardly sort of thing to do but in all fairness, he was no use to anyone the last couple of weeks. Peter was the only thing keeping him grounded lately and Newt? Newt wasn't a fan of being a burden.

At least most of that was behind him now. For the most part. Kind of. Sorta. He's getting there. The garden was a huge step in the right direction though and his determination is pivotal to both his own personal health but also the well-being of everyone in Hadriel. At least he thought so. A garden could only really benefit everyone and not just because it dolled out food that they could hopefully trust. Stuff like this brought people together a little bit. Yeah, he was one of those types.

Newt doesn't notice the girl until she speaks up but he doesn't startle. He swings the pick axe down into the ground because yeah- shovels weren't always the best for getting some of the tougher earth up. He straightens up and swipes the back of his hand over his brow, squinting his eyes over at her.

At once he realizes he doesn't know her and steps aside from where he's buried his axe to get a bit of a better look.)

Gardening, more like. (Well he kind of is trying to get flowers in there but that's totally neither here nor there.)

It really is. There's pretty much nothing in this cave except for...Let's see. Rock, rock, oh and. More rock.

[unfollowing]

[Rock, and gods that like to fuck with people, and monsters and shitty shops and a lot of things that take Emily's baseline of annoyed up a notch.]

You're going to plant food, right? Something actually useful? Flowers are nice and all, but given those asshole gods like poisoning our food, planting flowers would be a waste of time.

[Emily's voice is sharp and full of disdain, her guard high up in reponse to, well, a month of shit. Longer, even, because that one night last year is what started the shitshow that was this year's fucked up night on the mountain.]

[krangke]

(Despite her tone of voice, Newt doesn't seem remotely bothered by her. Instead he laughs just a little bit, rolling his shoulders up into a shrug.)

Well I'm sure bloody aiming for food, yeah. That's the idea. I mean lookit this-

(He gestures vaguely around him. It is a fairly large plot of land.)

What's the point in filling this all up with flowers? Nah. I'm hoping to get some potatoes, vegetables, fruit- anything and as much of it all as I can. Variety's good. Maybe some herbs if I can.

(It'd likely be a slow process getting a lot in there but at least it'd be a process worth making.)

[mismanagement]

[Truthfully, with all the madness running about, Maketh nearly forgot about her promise to give Newt farming tips. She remembers it during one of her daily walks through the ruins, scouting out supplies and possible changes to the map. And then there was Newt, covered in dirt and working hard.

She thought of her family, for a moment. Trying to make things grow in dust.

The earth seems better suited to crops here, though. Perhaps they have a chance.

Maketh tucks her notebook under her arm and walks over. She's never actually spoken to Newt in person before.] How goes it?

[krangke]

(Newt wasn't holding it to her at the very least. It's not that he had forgotten about the promise but there was so much else happening around Hadriel that he had put it in the back of his mind.

Maketh had only ever texted Newt though and so he doesn't recognize the voice or the woman when she approaches. He digs his shovel into the ground before coming to a stop, glancing up.

It's still a bit of a knee-jerk reaction for him to be a little cautious about adults but he's gotten better enough about it that it's not so obvious.)

Hello. It goes well.

(His eyes cut away from the woman briefly before sliding back to his garden.)

Can I help you?

[mismanagement]

[Maketh blinks. He doesn't recognize her. Why..?] Oh, you wouldn't know my face. I'm Maketh. We spoke.

[krangke]

Oh!

(Recognition instantly flows onto his face. He is really good with names.)

Right! Sorry. Hello, Maketh. It's good to meet you. I'd shake your hand but uh.

(He wiggles a hand. It's filthy and a bit bloody. So, you know.)

the 6th

[64th]

[ Cashmere's made herself really scarce since Hope revived her. the first couple days are spent hiding away in an otherwise empty apartment and eventually she does move back in with Arya. it takes her longer to seek out her friends because she's so terrified of what she'd become, afraid that she's somehow permanently changed.

running into Newt isn't planned, but the new construction of the garden gets her curiosity. it's late morning when she wanders overs, watching from a distance at first and then approaching quietly. ]

You did all this?

[krangke]

(Her voice startles him a bit if only because it's not what he had been expecting. He looks up and the shovel slips from his hand.)

Cashmere.

(His eyes have widened just fractionally and yeah, okay. He wasn't prepared for this. Thing is, he actually really did care about Cashmere. Hated that Arya had to deal with that on her own but worse yet, that Cashmere had to sink into...what she sank into. It's something that hits close to home and he doesn't even realize he's walked over to her until he's standing right in front of her.)

You're....better.

(He murmurs this with quiet awe, staring over her face. Then slowly he smiles, his eyes a little warm.)

Bloody hell I'm glad to see you're okay. Can I like-

(He makes a strange gesture. He's used to touching boys. Girls? Not so much.)

Hug you or something?

[64th]

[ "better" is debatable because she still feels pretty shitty. maybe it's just shock from, well, everything. maybe this is just how she is going to feel now. Cashmere's not sure yet. but she smiles when he does. it's good to feel missed. ]

Yeah.

[ she hugs him before he can figure out the whole complications of girl hugs. it's the first real contact she's had in a while and her eyes immediately fill with tears. ] Are you okay?

[krangke]

(She definitely was missed. Worse yet, she was worried sick over.

Girl hugs turn out to be equally as pleasant as boy hugs. Just a little softer. He doesn't hesitate to hug her back and soon his arms are tight around her. His eyes are only a teensy bit wet.)

Yeah, yeah. I'm living. I'm fine.

(He presses a hand to the back of her head, lightly smoothing down her hair.)

Better than I've been. Are you okay?